Work and Play
by Emperor Bass exe
Summary: Lelouch tries to get some work done late at night, but his daughter can't sleep and wants to play a game.


His fingers glided over the keys, the soft clacking from the typing meshing with the insistent patter of rain on the windows of his office. The amber glow from the nearby lamp cast away the nighttime shadows and allowed his deep amethyst eyes to flick rapidly over the text on the screen before him. His ebon hair was still damp from his recent shower and a bead of water collected irritably on his brow; the emperor ceased his typing to brush it away.

Lelouch sighed and gingerly rubbed his temples, taking a moment to check the clock. 10:34 PM, it read. He was working late, and while not an uncommon occurrence, it was a necessary one. He worked late to ensure he had some free time tomorrow for his family; the young emperor had promised himself that he wouldn't neglect them. Corentin had a swim meet coming up in a week and Lelouch resolved that he wouldn't miss that, even going as far as rescheduling meetings to be days prior to the event instead of on the same date.

Sleep beckoned, and his eyes felt heavy, he felt like simply walking to his bedroom and slumping down next to Shirley without even bothering to remove his royal garb. He endured though; if Suzaku and Euphemia could manage time enough for their little girl, then so could he for his own children. Lelouch resolved to not be like his father and ignore them. He knew Shirley doted on them constantly, thankfully not to the point of spoiling them – that was Nunnally's job.

With a firm, determined, nod; the Emperor returned his attention to the work spread out before him. He would have to finalize the paperwork regarding a meeting he'd have with the Japanese Prime Minister, Oghi, in a few days. Lelouch had to finish writing a speech for his address for next Thursday; and he'd have to approve this upcoming 'Merlin' project that Lloyd Asplund was so excited about and wanted Suzaku to help conduct the preliminary tests. Lelouch's in-box, both on his desk and business email ( with each invoice rigorously scanned by Jeremiah before being forwarded for Lelouch's attention), were a quarter-full from what they'd been this morning, and if he worked a bit longer he could shave it down to roughly five-percent by 1:00 AM.

He resumed typing, quickly becoming too engrossed in his work to notice the dull crackle of distant thunder reverberating in the far background. Lelouch's work resumed for several minutes.

"Daddy?" came a soft voice from the open door of his office.

His quick fingers came to a halt over the keys and the emperor looked up to see Rozenn standing in her pajamas at the door. The eight year old girl's hair was out of her preferred ponytail, leaving mussed auburn waves that reached past her shoulders. Her hair, like her brother's, was a shade darker than Shirley's; the twins shared their father's purple eyes.

"Rozenn," Lelouch chided firmly, a trace of concern evident in his voice all the same, "You should be in bed."

The Britannian princess rubbed one sleepy eye with a fist while her other hand clutched a long, thin, wooden box with a checkerboard pattern on it. "I was, daddy, but the storm woke me up. Can I play a game with you?"

The room flashed slightly as Lelouch opened his mouth to reply, soon followed by distant thunder. It wasn't terribly loud, but Lelouch knew his daughter was a light sleeper and that the distant storm could've easily woken her. His stifled a sigh, understanding that she needed some time with a parent, Shirley was probably asleep by now anyway; so it would be up to him to comfort Rozenn. "Alright," he conceded, realizing that his work tonight would be delayed, his lavender eyes flickered to the chessboard she held, "But one match, ok? Then you need to get to bed so you can have enough energy for the picnic tomorrow, you don't want to disappoint cousin Saki by being sleepy, do you?"

His daughter shook her head, fiery locks waiving as she did, "No daddy, I don't." she replied sweetly, walking forwards towards his desk, opening the chessboard case as she did so. Lelouch cleared a space on his desk for the board to be placed and set up while Rozenn dragged a chair over from the side of his office to sit in.

"One game," he reminded her with a smile, "and I need to have free time tomorrow for the picnic too, so daddy's going to have to work while we play, deal?"

The girl nodded in agreement, beaming, "Deal!" she replied as she set up the board with familiarity. Lelouch started teaching her chess when she was only five, and the emperor has impressed at how well his little girl grasped the fundamentals of the game. Corentin enjoyed it as well, but he much rather preferred swimming with his mother in the palace pool.

Lelouch pulled a coin from the pile of pieces Rozenn had dumped from the case, it was unique: one side depicting his likeness clad in his old masked Zero uniform from his days in leading the rebellion against his father. The other showed him as he was now; clad in white imperial vestments, looking serene. "Alright, I'll flip." He stated, levering his thumb under the coin and flicking it into the air. It tumbled end-over-end to land on the chessboard with his masked-self staring up from the coin's silvered surface. "I guess I'll play as black this game."

Rozenn giggled, "You've had a lot of practice with it, daddy."

The emperor smiled, setting up his side of the board "What can I say? You need to learn how to best make use of that first move."

They started the game, since Rozenn was playing white she had first move; plucking a knight from its starting square to hop over the line of pawns, "Uncle Suzaku," she murmured, associating the piece with her uncle's esteemed rank out of habit.

Lelouch shifted a pawn two spaces ahead of a rook, giving the Castile piece enough room to maneuver out of its start space and onto the still open board. The emperor flicked his eyes away from the board to examine a neat pamphlet of paperwork; it was the proposal for the Merlyn system that Lloyd desired funding for. Lelouch scanned the executive summary, only pausing when he heard Rozenn tap another piece down on the board, he flicked his gaze back to the game and swiftly calculated a counter-strategy; sweeping the rook out of its slot. Rozenn watched intently, focused on the board and devising a plan of attack. With a determined nod, she moved a pawn forwards so one of her bishops could squeeze by.

This routine continued, Lelouch dividing his attention between his work and the game, idly asking Rozenn how her day had gone. His daughter would reply elaborately, but still kept her attention fixed on the board; she knew full well that her father wouldn't sugar-coat the game – he never did, wanting her to learn from experience and not by simply handing her victory. Lelouch's supreme chess skills would've allowed him to beat her swiftly, but he took his time and set up scenarios for Rozenn to encounter.

"Watch your queenside rook." The emperor advised, looking away from the document he'd just signed.

"Where?" Rozenn asked, her brow furrowing in curiosity.

Lelouch pointed.

"Oh." She responded, her voice turning pensive, wondering how she could wiggle the piece out of danger. Her eyes scanned the board for a solution that wouldn't jeopardize her strategy for several moments, and after a huff of annoyance she reached for a nearby knight.

"Ah." Her father stated with an amused grin on his face, "A good move."

Rozenn paused, looking suspiciously at him, her fingers pinching the knight after moving it to its new square; there wasn't any other threats to her rook on the board from what she could see. Tentatively, she removed her fingers from the piece.

Lelouch seized one of his bishops, one that hadn't been moved in the game until this point, and swept it down the open avenue of pieces to flick over Rozenn's rook. The emperor added the captured piece to the line of white pieces he'd already taken throughout the course of the game.

He grinned apologetically at his daughter's miffed expression, her cheeks puffing slightly from her slender face mirroring the expression Shirley had whenever she was annoyed by something, "Like I said, a good move; but there was a better one you could've taken." He stated, gesturing towards a humble white pawn that could've defended Rozenn's piece.

"A pincer move." The princess mused, looking thoughtful now at the situation her father had lured her pieces in on the game board.

"Indeed, I'll teach you more of that la-" Lelouch flinched, giving a hiss of pain and dropping the packet of paper he'd been flicking through.

Rozenn looked up, concerned, "Daddy?"

"I'm alright, just a paper cut." The emperor replied, seeing a bead of blood ooze from the shallow diagonal cut he'd received on the pad of his index finger. Memories of the rebellion welled up in his mind at the sight; he idly recalled the pain he'd felt and blood he'd lost after shielding Shirley from the bullets of Rolo the assassin…

"Here daddy." Came his daughter's soft voice, snapping him back to the present; and he blinked upon seeing her fish a small first-aid box from a side-cabinet for just such occurrences. The princess held out her hand expectantly, while her other pulled a band-aid from the box. Rozenn's determined expression of 'let me help' almost made Lelouch laugh as he held out his finger for her inspection.

She dabbed the cut with a cotton ball from the kit, then gingerly layered the band-aid over it. The princess inspected her handiwork for a moment, and, after a nod of approval, placed a gentle kiss on her father's finger. "There, now it'll feel better."

"Good girl," Lelouch said, his mouth twisting into a grin as he ruffling her auburn hair with his free hand, "You'd make a good nurse someday, Rozenn."

His daughter beamed.

They continued their game, Lelouch still pausing every so often during his turn to attend to his work; it was slow going, but at least he was getting it done and still spending time with his daughter. "Check" he said, shifting his black queen into place to threaten the Rozenn's king while he inspected a report in his free hand. There was no response, and the emperor looked up to see his daughter with her head down on the desk, her eyes closed, breathing easily, fast asleep.

Lelouch smiled, his eyes glancing at the clock, 11:17 AM. It had been a roughly half-hour game, and Rozenn hadn't stayed up too much, so he didn't expect her to be too tired in the morning. Standing from his desk, the Emperor scooped his daughter up gently in his arms and carried her out into the hall towards her room.

Shirley was peering into the children's respective bedrooms as he approached, her shapely body clad in a long, cream-coloured, nightgown. The empress blinked at his approach, pulling a stray strand of her auburn hair behind her ear, "Ah, so you've got her." She smiled.

"Yeah, the storm woke her up and she wanted to play a quick match to help her sleep." Lelouch explained as he passed Shirley into the princess' room, the rain pattered softly on the windows; there was no trace of thunder. The parents could hear Corentin's light snoring coming from his room across the hall. Shirley pulled back the sheets of Rozenn's bed so Lelouch could lay her down and tuck her in. The emperor paused to kiss his daughter's temple.

"Did you get a lot of work done?" Shirley asked quietly as they shut Rozenn's door and walked down the hall to their master bedroom. Lelouch nodded, "Yeah, enough so I can join you guys tomorrow; did Sayoko fix the lunches?"

The empress nodded, "Yes, she and Jeremiah debated on the details of it until Nunnally put them at ease. It'll be fun tomorrow with Suzaku, Euphemia, and Saki. Nunnally invited Rai to join us…" she trailed off upon seeing his eyes droop slightly, her expression grew jokingly stern, "But you need to get some sleep."

Lelouch chuckled, "Yes love." He bent down and pressed his lips to hers briefly before she took his hand and led him inside the darkened bedroom.


End file.
